Hero of Justice
by 002219
Summary: The story of a boy who wanted to be a hero, and the knight that was born at the end of that path. And here, the ideal named 'justice' ties both existences together, in yet another possibility of the continuum shift.


"Give it up, there is no way for you to obtain victory."

Amber eyes shot up to meet the faceless mask of the white knight. And in them, there was anger. There was rejection. There was the ultimate form of hate, an absolute and utter negativity that was, bluntly, abnormal.

"Do you still hate me, even when you know who I am?" the white knight asks, his voice cold and hard. "There is no future at the end of your road. The being that stands before you is the only product of that despicable path."

"You're… wrong."

The red-haired boy shakily regained his balance. His eyes were covered in blood, his clothes smeared with dirt and dust. His eyes were glazed over, and in his mind, he did not see the armor of silver.

What he saw was a distant battlefield.

Hakumen stared at the boy with disguised curiosity, and reached a conclusion.

"You can see it, can't you?" he asked, quietly shaking his head. "The final choice."

* * *

"_Tell me, Mr. Hero," the blonde vampire said, smiling faintly as she said so, "how would you like to become a real hero?"_

_The red-turning-silver-haired man stared up, and with a determination unlike any the vampire had ever seen before, nodded. There was no enthusiasm in the movement, only sheer will and force. _

_Her smile widened._

* * *

"…What's wrong…with that…?"

The room fell silent. The sunlight dimmed. The two knights, one in white and the other in blue, stared at the boy in shock and incomprehension.

"She said it herself," the boy continued, his voice growing steadier by the second. "She made you… a _real_ hero. So tell me why… _tell me why you turned your back on it_!"

"Because it was a senseless dream!" Hakumen shouted back. "Because no matter how much you sacrifice, more will follow! No matter how much you try to save the world, the pathetic humans will cause more suffering!" He unsheathed the body-long blade from his back and pointed it downwards, ready to strike. "If you won't give up your ideals, then the existence of Shirou Emiya will crumble today!"

"Shut up!" Shirou shouted back. "You call yourself EMIYA? You don't deserve to bear that name! If your name is Shirou Emiya, then you will not turn your back on your goal!" He forced his palms into fists. "If you will try to stain the honor befitting that name, then I will _take your words for myself_.

_I am the white void-_

_Iron is my blood, and Glass is my heart."_

"You…" With a growl of frustration, Hakumen brought his sword down. Almost instantly after, new steel came to life in the boy's hands, blocking the silver knight's.

* * *

_Once, there was a man on the verge of death. Humanity was all but doomed, the product of a monster spiraling out of control and ravaging entire countries._

_He himself was not much better than a broken mess. By his own recklessness and mistake, he had caused great sorrow, both in himself and in others. The one who had fell pursuing him was she who he had loved._

_Even all that sacrifice was useless, by the end of it all. Broken, he lay on a grassy hill, in agony, cold, and alone._

_But then, he was given a power. Power to avert the tragic fate of the world. Power to become a hero of justice._

_And so, the man gave up his body, and took control of the Susano-o unit. He took on the name Hakumen, and raised the sword that ends what cannot be ended. He thought that it was enough. That his body would be the final key._

_If only it was so simple._

_He met a silver-haired warrior, one with a forgotten past. And he joined the silver knight and his allies in the effort to destroy a powerful beast- a beast so deadly, not even the entire world could stop it._

_They created weapons. Weapons that can surpass what entire countries cannot. They tried to equip humanity with these tools._

_But mankind was not ready for the weapon they had prepared. They needed time._

_So the silver-haired man charged. Wielding the Blood-Scythe, he charged and attacked, and delayed the Black Beast for an entire year. In turn, however, he was absorbed and became one with the abomination, and the Six Heroes, along with a lone girl became the only ones who carried on his legacy._

_This sacrifice shook the Silver Knight to his core. Yet still, the silver knight fought. And fought, and fought, and fought._

_And when all seemed to have ended, when peace had once more returned to the world, Terumi Yuuki, once a Hero of the Dark War, betrayed his former allies, and sealed the silver knight in the place known only as the Boundary._

_There, Hakumen reflected upon his past, and realized that, in the end, he had lost all he cared about. _

_His brother._

_His love._

_His ideal._

_His body._

_All in the name of justice. _

_And he could not handle the painful truth._

_So he made a deal, in the hope that he will be able to create a paradox great enough to erase the existence known as Shirou Emiya. So that all this suffering, will end forever._

* * *

He charged.

With all his nonexistent strength, the boy charged.

He was not fighting an enemy, he was not destroying a target-

He was overcoming a hurdle, a mental block that would not allow him to advance.

Iron steel clashed against itself.

"_How would you like to be a real hero?"_

Mechanical indifference met raging determination.

"_My name is Ragna; Ragna the Bloodedge!"_

A man of the future exchanged blows with a boy of unique fate.

"_I truly am sorry, brother."_

In the ruined floors of the Einzbern mansion, the silver knight continued to attack. Yet still, the boy stood, not once flinching, not once hesitating.

Hakumen knew that he would have to finish the fight quickly. Otherwise, Rin would arrive and his plan would be foiled.

So why? Why does he want to see how long the boy would last?

He scowled and blocked another attack. It drove him a few inches back.

That shouldn't be possible. He was a Heroic Spirit. His enemy was just a boy.

So again, why? What was giving the boy strength? He had heard, from one of the few tidbits he could gather during his time at the Boundary, that if two incarnations of the same self meet, then the memories and strength of one will pass to the other.

But then, once more, why? Why does the boy continue to struggle? It was a pointless dream. It was an endless dream.

Then Hakumen turned his gaze to the boy's eyes, and saw that they were blank, as if he was not really looking at his enemy. And it was then that the silver knight knew.

The boy was not fighting a powerful enemy. The boy was fighting himself.

And in that split second, the Hero of Justice froze.

In the instant after, the sword of Ookami tore through his chest, burying itself until it stopped at its hilt, piercing bloodlessly in what should have been an easily blocked attack.

…

"I won."

"Yes. And I lost."

…

* * *

Rin Tohsaka landed with a painful thud.

"Ooooouuuuuucchhhhh…"

What was she thinking, dropping down from the terrace without even using Reinforcement? That was a rookie mistake, and she was no rookie.

She limped forwards twice before resuming in her normal pace, reaching the lobby.

"Shirou, are you-"

Then she saw her Servant, the indestructible Silver Knight, with a gaping hole where his lung should be.

"Archer?" she asked, her attention moving just as quickly as she had arrived. "What's with that wound?"

He couldn't really die, could he? That would mean she was disqualified from the Grail War, and she can't have that.

Hakumen merely snorted in amusement before turning his back to her. Shirou looked relieved at her entrance, and was about to call out to her...

...until suddenly, a torrent of Noble Phantasms flew through the air, shooting towards him.

The silver knight's attention instantly set to the boy, but by then, it was too late. Most of his body avoided the attack, but his left arm was caught, and was maimed horribly.

""_Shirou!""_

* * *

"_you're sayi_?"

"_only wa_"

"Ar_ wha_ yo_ _?"

"_chur_Pri_"

"-_ke _est?!"

* * *

_Shirou Emiya dreamed of a blue circle. _

_It was a very intricate blue circle. Inside the space, it was filled with writings and inscriptions, more and more circles and various shapes of various sizes. _

_It was a high-level Formalcraft, so advanced that all it needs to activate is the force of an attack and the prana of the environment. But more than that, it was a Noble Phantasm. _

_It was Hakumen's single magic: a single Counter magic, to be precise. Shirou was amazed by it. It was the product of a thousand battles, a thousand losses, a spell that had enough history to be considered a mythical weapon itself. _

_It was also the result of an ideal; the ideal to save._

_To be a hero of justice is to protect the innocent and punish the evil. Therefore, the weapon of a hero of justice must be one that inflicts suffering equal to one that was unleashed by the attacker itself._

_It was with this train of thought that the spell was created. It was constructed, perfected, refined, and brought to its maximum potential._

_But even then, it was still a monument to that which was lost in the rocky path ahead. And so, it was to be titled with that very special name._

* * *

"Hah…Gargh!"

Yellow eyes opened, processing every inch and corner of the room. For a brief moment, they darkened, only to once more shine brilliant golden.

"Oh? It seems you are awake."

There was a man dressed in black. Identity: Kirei Kotomine. Untrustworthy. One meter from position. Unarmed, though the coat may be concealing small knives. Furthermore, fabric can be turned lethal through the use of Reinforcement. Even if the target is not a magus, cloth can also be used to prevent someone from breathing, causing the victim to die from oxygen deprivation. Also, should the coat be hiding a smaller leather vest, it can be used to strap various weapons onto it. In conclusion, target is to be wary of, but not engaged in actual combat. Advised quick takedown to stun and daze targe-

"What was that?" Shirou asked, shaking his head furiously. "That was… strange."

"I'm afraid that if you wish for answers, you will have to explain with more than just a simple shake of your head," the priest said. "When I agreed into replacing your arm, I thought you would at least be thankful. Clearly, I've been too soft on my observations."

Shirou was about to retort when his mind clicked onto something the man had just said.

"My arm…?"

* * *

…

…

* * *

"So, my left arm was destroyed."

They were sitting in the church's back room, two cups of tea on the table.

"Correct."

The priest kept his smug smile, and listened as the two other guests tried to eavesdrop from outside.

"And Archer amputated his left arm, and had it grafted onto my body."

Shirou held his new arm tightly, numbing the constant pain it was giving off.

"Yes."

He paused, and stared at the priest with incredulity.

"So... now I have the arm of a Heroic Spirit."

Ignoring the disbelief, Kotomine Kirei simply drank from his tea. Placing it down once more, he answered.

"Indeed."

...

...

"I hate you. I'm sure this is all your fault, somehow."

He smiled.

"Perhaps it was. Or perhaps, it wasn't. I'll be expecting the payment once the War ends."

Shirou choked on his tea.

* * *

_..__._

_..._

* * *

_The Fifth Holy Grail War- 16th Day._

"I must say: this is truly a worthy play."

The golden Servant stood across from him, his armor materialized. There was a tolerant smile on his face, one that judges all he could see, and saw it grudgingly worth his attention.

"A tale of woe and joy, a legend of endless suffering: I have never seen any like this. Perhaps I shall write it down, and place it as one of my treasures. It is certainly the best mongrels can come up with."

The red-haired boy held his left arm with his right, and a silver sword manifested in his grip.

"Oh? So you wish to fight me, then?" Gilgamesh snapped his finger, and three Noble Phantasms appeared in the air behind him. "Well, I suppose you do count as a Servant by now. Prepare yourself, silver knight. The King shall grace you with his presence."

The swords flew through the air. Instantly the single sword threw them off course.

"Good. At least you're no longer as weak as mongrels are."

Shirou continued to stare at his enemy. And then, for the first time that day, he spoke.

"_I am the White Void, _

_Iron is my blood, and Glass is my heart."_

Steel weaved through skin and formed armor on his left hand. Three axes swung through the air.

The single arm effortlessly parried the oncoming projectiles.

"_I am the cold steel._

_I shall walk through countless battlefields,_

_Not once retreating, nor once understood."_

"Tch. You're getting annoying."

Twenty lances and halberds shot from the Gate of Babylon. The King of Heroes was getting angry, his expression twisting further and further.

And in response, Shirou raised his sword high up in the air-

_It's name is thus, Mr. Hero: _

_Interfectum Malus, Ookami._

-and brought it down, sending a massive shockwave on a level that even Berserker Hercules would have been in awe of.

"_And so with blade in hand,_

_I shall reap the sins of this world,_

_And cleanse it, in the fires of destruction."_

"Damn you!" The mongrel had soiled his armor with dust. He will pay for that. "You bastard…! Bastard! Bastard! Bastard! Bastard! Bastard! Bastard! Bastard!"

Gilgamesh picked up a golden sword, an ancient treasure worth all the minerals of the world. And that move was to be his last.

A blue circle flickered to life in front of the boy. As the blade struck the intricate diagram of circles, time stopped.

The dust, the air, the wind, the sparks- all of these things, the powers of the earth, were no match for the knight's power.

This was the result of the Emiya clan's line of magi- the product of thousands of years' worth of time manipulation magic.

But-

There was still more.

"_As I stand on this hill of swords,_

_I have no regrets."_

A spinning slash- one so powerful space itself was ripped as it shoots forward- was unleashed, a swordsmanship that ends that which cannot be ended.

"_Summer's Advance,_

_Winter's Repose._

_Cry, Camellia-_

_Bloom,_

_Tsubaki."_

And the area was consumed by a white void- the Reality Marble of the Heroic Spirit EMIYA, the Silver Knight 'Hakumen'.

* * *

…

…

* * *

Consciousness returned to a body long forgotten, and a pink-haired grimalkin watched him with fascinated eyes.

"Tager, he's awake. Get me the tools, we're fixing him right away."

"Roger that, Kokonoe."

The half-cat licked her candy and continued to stare at the unmoving white knight. "So, how was your sleep, oh great hero Hakumen?"

He stood up, his left arm severed and his right battered, and looked around the Sector Seven Laboratory. He shrugged off the unfamiliar background, and did not heed the gigantic footsteps of the infamous Red Devil.

If he showed any alarm as to why he was out of the Boundary, surrounded by strange people, he did not show it. Shaking his head as if he was rubbing off sleep, he let an amused chuckle escape from him.

"It was a nice dream," he says, and allowed reality to define itself to him once more.

* * *

…

…

* * *

_One Year Later:_

The city of Fukutoshin was now nothing more than fires and destruction. The Grail War had destroyed any hopes of survival in the once-great area. All of the surviving inhabitants had been evacuated, for in the center of the city, there was a beast: a black beast with eight heads, the product of the winner of the Holy Grail War of Fukutoshin.

Shirou ran through the streets of the ravaged city, together with a witch named Ayaka Sajyou. They were not actually friends- resembling more of 'allies by circumstance'- but when one deals with Shirou Emiya, formality goes out of the window.

"Left!" she yelled, and he obeyed immediately. The red-haired boy barely avoided another chunk of broken concrete, and the earth shook at the movement. The two figures continued to run, hiding from the Black Beast as it continued to thrash about.

"How much longer?" Shirou asked, gasping for breath. The fires around him were starting to force him to recall the inferno from which he was saved, and it was a very unpleasant feeling to remember the burns.

He could already feel his head start to spin.

"A few more blocks," Ayaka quietly responds, her earlier shout of alarm fading away as if it was never there in the first place. "Once we're there, we can rest. My family had an underground cellar, and the supplies have not expired."

"Rest?! While that _thing _is running around?! No, we must get back to the offensive!"

The girl closed her eyes, as if she was hoping this entire mess was just a dream. "It is better for one to die and another live, than for both to die," she said. "If we die, Emiya-san, then who do you think will stop the Beast from escaping the city?"

The unspoken answer hung in the air as they continued to run towards their destination.

* * *

_..._

_..._

* * *

_One month later:_

"They're coming up with an excuse for the existence of magic," Shirou informed his female companion. "Apparently, it's called 'Ars magus' now."

Ayaka sighed, but didn't say anything. Instead, she focused on the wheel, driving their small jeep across the rocky road.

"The Blue herself was called on to help us slow down the Beast. They said she's waiting over at our destination."

"That's good," she quietly says, and her eyes continued to scan the distant hills for any signs of the settlement. Then she added, "I think we need to gather even more to be able to stop the Beast."

"I think so, too. We'll see the best we can do."

Shirou squinted, then pointed to the distance.

"What is that?"

Ayaka looked to where his finger directed, and her eyes widened.

She stepped on the brakes, and the car turned sharply to the left.

And the eight heads of the Black Beast, hidden under the mountains, slammed into the transport.

* * *

_..._

_..._

* * *

He lay there, unmoving, as he cradled the body in his arms.

"…No…"

That was all he could say. All he could do was futilely reject the event that was happening in front of him.

Ayaka stared up from her place in her friend's arms, and her eyes, the Mystical Eyes of Illusion, gently smiled at him.

"It's alright," she says, and held his arm close to her heart. "I have no regrets. I'm glad I met you- I'm happy. That's what you wanted, wasn't it? Smile."

He could not, for she was dying. He could not, for before this point, all he had to lose was his own fortune, time, and effort. But this- this was the first time he truly had to make the choice.

To save one, another must be sacrificed.

_It is better for one to die, and another live, _she had said, _then for both to die._

He could not save everyone. For the first time, it was not someone else's sorrow he felt, but one that was his own.

But still…

She was happy. In her final moments, she was happy. He had succeeded in lighting up someone's world, before they eventually die.

So he'll keep walking. And he'll keep saving,

Until the end of time.

* * *

_..._

_..._

* * *

_.?.:_

The Black Beast was vanquished. With a howl that pierces through the dead night air, it collapsed into a mountain of seithr.

The man who was named Shirou Emiya looked down upon the victory they had achieved.

"We… won," a witch noted. She lowered her Nox Nyctores, and slumped backwards, into the concerned arms of a black-haired man.

"Yes, we did," her partner confirmed, and even he seemed tired. His bloodied fists released into open palms, and he rubbed the sweat off his face, even as she leaned further back.

A combustion-based magus frowned, and her red hair returned into its original black color. "But what about the seithr? That's a huge amount, Shirou. We all know how dangerous even small piles of them can be."

He nodded, and sheathed his sword. "One of you go down there, and get the fighters out of here," he ordered. "Make sure they don't get overconfident. We need to make sure the surviving ones stay alive."

One of them- a red haired boy- raised his hand, his green jacket coming out the least bloodied of all of them. "I'll do it. I'm the least injured." His expression morphed into something of concern. "You should rest, Shirou. You've been exerting yourself in all the preparations real hard ever since… well, you know. It's over. You can stop fighting now."

"I agree," said another, who held in her hands a red shroud, in a rare show of compassion. "We can take care of the cleanup."

Shirou chuckled to himself, interrupting his own desperate huffs for air. "Hm. I guess so. I can count on the five of you to manage the rest of humanity, can't I?"

They smiled, and the unspoken answer hung in the air.

* * *

_..._

_..._

* * *

_Epilogue_

* * *

_..._

_..._

* * *

_?_

Shirou ran through the burning fields of Ikaruga, rapidly approaching the lone figure. His silver armor shone dimly in the sun, and the black robe that lay over it flowed in the fiery air.

The blonde figure looked up, her face blank, as if distracted by something. A moment later, the knight's hand pulled her out of the fire, and he set her down on the earth, both figures neither noticing nor caring of her lack of clothing.

He materialized a golden sheath, and allowed it to disperse into the girl's body. He covered her burn marks with his black cloth, and smiled, for he had saved her life.

And the words of that one man, all those years ago, came back to him, and he knew what to say next.

"What's your name?" he asked. The girl's eyes focused, and looked at the man. They were intelligent eyes, eyes of mechanical precision.

Alpha. Beta. Gamma. Delta. Epsilon. Zeta. Eta. Theta. Iota. Kappa. Lambda.

And her name was…

"Mu," she says, her voice soft. The burn scars on her face faded as Avalon went to work, and she smiled at her savior. He looked… very happy. "My name… is Mu."

"Mu. That's a very unique name. Now, people are going to start coming soon, so I'll make this quick. Right now, you have a choice. What would you prefer? Would you like to follow me, and be constantly in danger, or would you like to be taken to the proper authorities, and be safe all your life?"

Mu stared into those eyes; those eyes of fire- those eyes of steel. And she made her choice.

"I'll come with you."

He smiled.

"Then let's get out of here."


End file.
